Gruve’s Bold Bet: Making AI Actually Work for Enterprises

AI isn’t magic. But with the right people behind it, it can move mountains.

That’s the mindset behind Gruve, a fast-growing services company helping large enterprises figure out where AI fits—and how to use it to get actual results. Not buzzwords. Not “AI transformation” theater. Just outcomes that matter.

Launched in early 2024 by Tarun Raisoni, Gruve is already 500 people strong, filled with experts who understand enterprise environments inside and out. Their pitch is refreshingly simple: we’ll help you make AI work, and scale it without breaking everything.

What Gruve Does, in Real Terms

Gruve supports big organizations—banks, tech companies, insurers—by helping them integrate AI into core functions like cybersecurity, cloud engineering, customer experience, and data management.

They’re not an AI tool or a platform. They’re a team that figures out how AI can actually help, implements it, and supports it over time. Every solution is tailored to the customer’s business environment, layered with AI where it makes sense.

“We’re technology-centric,” Raisoni says. “But we always start with understanding the customer’s world.”

The Backstory: From Cisco to Gruve

Raisoni’s journey started with a master’s in electrical engineering in 1999. He spent ten years at Cisco, followed by a stint at Emerson Power (now Vertiv). In 2012, he co-founded Rahi Systems and helped scale it to $500 million in revenue before selling to Wesco in 2022.

After a brief break, he launched Gruve in February 2024 with a clear focus: help enterprises make sense of AI.

“Enterprises already know how to deliver value,” he says. “What they struggle with is the stack underneath. And AI? It’s not just complex—it’s changing every day.”

What Makes Gruve Different

AI hype is everywhere. Gruve skips the flash and focuses on substance.

“We talk to executive teams where every person gives a different answer to ‘What does AI mean to your business?’” Raisoni says. “Our goal is to help them align—to get that down to one shared answer.”

Gruve brings deep domain expertise to the table. Every consultant understands both the business and the tech. That means they’re not guessing or experimenting on the client’s dime. They’re building secure, scalable, AI-infused services that work in complex enterprise environments.

The Fear Behind the Pilot

While Gruve didn’t name specific customers, Raisoni sees the same fear pop up across the board: the jump from pilot to scale.

“People say, ‘What if the pilot works for ten people, but fails for 10,000?’” he explains. “What about security? What about data exposure?”

Gruve helps them answer those questions. Their approach is built to move beyond the proof-of-concept phase and make AI viable across entire organizations.

Who They Serve

While Gruve’s early traction has come from finance and high-tech—thanks to its locations near New York and Silicon Valley—it’s not tied to any one industry. The unifying factor is complexity.

If a company has legacy systems, sprawling infrastructure, or data trapped behind firewalls, Gruve can help. Its team understands how to work within those constraints and still move the needle.

What’s Next

In spring 2025, Gruve raised close to $38 million. Mayfield led the round, with Navin Chaddha joining the board. Cisco Investments also participated, a meaningful vote of confidence given Raisoni’s history with the company.

The funding will fuel three things: expanding Gruve’s go-to-market efforts, hiring more experts, and acquiring small, high-quality services firms that align with Gruve’s mission.

The bigger vision? Building an outcome-based business model—where customers pay for results, not hours.

Looking Ahead, Learning Every Day

Gruve is still in learning mode. Every client brings a new set of outcomes they care about, and the company is constantly adapting. But the north star is clear: make AI useful, scalable, and grounded in the real world.

And for Raisoni, that future can’t come fast enough.

“If I could talk to my 20-year-old self,” he says, “I’d say, don’t be a slouch. Get to work. The world’s changing fast.”

So is Gruve. And they’re not waiting around.